T-Mobile’s 5G spectrum layer cake|Image credit-T-Mobile
Low-band spectrum is typically used by carriers for their nationwide 5G networks because of the airwaves’ ability to travel long distances. However, low-band is only slightly faster than 4G LTE. Mid-band spectrum is considered the most desirable for 5G; while it can’t travel as far as low-band, it can still outdistance high-band mmWave signals. While mid-band might not be as fast as mmWave, it is much faster than low-band. T-Mobile acquired Sprint in 2020 for $26 billion to get its hands on the latter’s horde of 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum.